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Five years ago, my Mom was in the best shape of her life, accompanying me for 10 mile hikes in the desert, reaching summits she never thought she could. Since then, things spiraled downhill as #lupus flared out of control. Eventually I accepted that she would probably never hike again. But, in spite of joint pain, fatigue, and the inability to breathe deeply without pain, and lots of other weird symptoms (these are daily facts of life with Lupus, not temporary symptoms) we went on a 1 mile hike today, and that is a huge victory! People always ask if my Mom is doing better, and although the answer is "yes" it's also "no" because people with Lupus never really get better. The disease flares and subsides, but it never leaves. #lupusawareness #autoimmunedisease #unlikelyhikers #womenwhohike #thetrek

Because no hike would be complete without some hiking selfies showing off that faded hat. #thetrek #tahoerimtrail #selfie #optoutside

Tuesday-Tuesday, and the #tahoerimtrail is done! #coupleswhohike #trt #thruhike #thetrek

Day 7 of the #tahoerimtrail was our last full day on trail. We saved the best for last and had a slow day though the Desolation Wilderness. #trt #thetrek #thruhike #backpacking

Day 6 on the #tahoerimtrail was even better! Maybe it was the hot coffee, or the ibuprofen, or the great weather, but we felt awesome all day. Maybe it was a little of everything. #thetrek #trt #thruhike #hiking #traillife

Went through Tahoe City this morning and made sure to get some chips for our last two days on trail. All is right with the world again. #tahoerimtrail #thruhike #thetrek #hikerhunger #backpacking

Category: AZT

Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in the Grand Canyon

hikinghammonds May 18, 2019

Six years ago, Paul and I went to the Grand Canyon. It was our honeymoon, and only our second time backpacking together. We had many lessons to learn. Our packs were too heavy, Paul got heat exhaustion, and it took …

5 Days on the Arizona Trail

hikinghammonds February 14, 2018

We’ve been itching to get outside lately, missing life on the trail. I was lucky to receive a backpack from Osprey to write a review for The Trek (a backpacking website I write for), so this gave us the perfect …